In the second quarter, the country also recorded a double-digit unemployment rate, while remittances from overseas Filipinos declined 9.9 percent year-on-year in the same period, which Moody’s noted was the first quarterly drop since 2015.
“The plunge in manufacturing production, in terms of value and volume, was due to disruptions to operations as the rebound in May and June from the trough reached in April mirrored developments related to the tightening and relaxation of pandemic curtailment measures. At the same time, ongoing restrictions on domestic and cross-border travel have hampered tourism and related industries with foreign visitor arrivals,” Moody’s added.
“Our projection of an economic recovery in the second half—while still intact—will be less robust than previously assumed. Combining this view with the sharp contraction in the first six months of 2020, we have lowered our full-year real GDP forecast to a contraction of 7 percent,” Moody’s said. On the “Bayanihan 2” bill, Moody’s said the P165-billion stimulus, “will have limited impact on the budgetary envelope as it will be funded largely through off-budget government savings and reallocation of parts of the previously national budget.”
utang pa more